This is the actual update. I'm sorry about the confusion. I seriously have no idea how the chapter updated without me pressing the publish button.

If you've read the previous update of this chapter, read this anyway, because it has been changed. And extended. ____________________________________

When the sound of the blast finally ceased, I had my face buried in Rafe's neck, with Ryx in between us. My ears were ringing when I opened my eyes.

I looked at Rafe and realised he was talking, but I couldn't hear anything over the ringing in my ears.

I shook my head and said, "I can't hear you. My ears are ringing."

I couldn't hear a word I said but Rafe seemed to because his eyes narrowed and he rubbed a thumb against my ear lobe.

Rafe said something but I couldn't understand what he said. He said it slowly again so I could read his lips.

Does it hurt?

I nodded, "A little, yeah." I said, wincing because I was paying more attention it.

Movement behind Rafe had me looking up as black suited C'Riel men rushed into the now barely recognisable room. There wasn't even a "door" left anymore. The remnants of the wall was on the floor, in splintered litters. Rafe deactivated the device on his arm and the blue lit ball that had shielded us disappeared; then with the arm around me, he pulled me to my feet.

I swayed a little, my ears still hurting. I looked down at Ryx who was barking incessantly and he kept scratching at his ears.

Was he going through the pain I was because I was?

Rafe's men gathered around him and he was tossing instructions from what I could tell from his face and their immediate actions. I tugged on his arm and he immediately gave me his attention.

"Rafe, I think my condition is affecting Ryx." I said, tapping my ear s and then looking down at Ryx.

Rafe looked down at Ryx and kneeled down, seeming to say something to him. Ryx stilled, shivered a little then settled down.

From then on, everything was chaos. I was quickly ushered to the Health Care Centre where doctors (yes, plural) worked on me. Rafe had sent Ryx with me (after kneeling down and giving him a long minute of speech that was lost to my ears), refusing to send me anywhere alone; he would've come too, but I think he was needed at the 'bomb site' more.

And Ryx was more wary than a porcupine, his hackles were raised and he growled at (and threatened to attack) almost anyone who came too close for his comfort. So I let him sit with me on the bed and he sat with the upper half of his torso resting on my lap. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him back when someone came too close while treating me.

The human doctors had applied some kind of salve on my ears and it quietened the ringing almost immediately. They asked me to provide some urine for them to test, but Ryx wouldn't let me get up, so I requested if I could take a blood test instead. When one of the human doctors came to me with a syringe, I saw people still and turn around in my periphery. I looked up too and watched Rafe walk into the the Health Care Centre, anger radiating off him in waves. People moved out of his way almost immediately and the poor doctor in front of me swallowed visibly when Rafe turned the weight of his angry gaze on him.

Rafe, having moved so fast I missed it, took the syringe away and stared at it impassively. Then he tossed it aside with a disgusting look.

"Rafe!" I gasped, but he had already gone somewhere into one of the—I'm pretty sure Restricted to Doctors only—rooms. He returned with a data pad and a small crystal like pen, with a circular structure at the end, in his hand. He came to me, placed the data pad aside, took my hand in his and as gently as he could, pricked my index finger with the pen like device. I watched as blood welled from my finger tip and filled the small crystal ball at the end. The data pad lit up and Rafe handed the pen/needle/crystal device to a C'Riel nurse who came to stand beside him for assistance and took the data pad from where he'd laid it beside me.

He looked at the data pad and his impassive face went a little...frown-y. Then his eyes flitted to me before looking at the nurse behind me. He said something to her and she all but ran to do what he'd asked.

He looked back at me, lifting his hand to run his fingers over my cheek.

"Do you remember when I asked you if you felt hungry when my father had removed your nutrition privileges?" He asked me.

Confused, I nodded.

"Do you remember what you said?" He asked me.

I thought about it, then said.

"I said I'm used to feeling hungry."

He hummed.

"You used to eat nutrition supplements on Earth, correct?" He asked me.

I nodded again, slowly, unsure where he was going with this.

He turned when the nurse came back to him, handing him a small flat square of some translucent material. He turned around, took my arm, and deftly pressed the material on my arm, just below my elbow.

My eyes widened as I watched my skin absorb the square—which had turned into some kind of gel as soon as it has touched my body.

"Okay...that was a little gross. What'd you just do?" I asked him, rubbing the spot the gel had been absorbed and feeling nothing. No stickiness no wetness, nothing.

"Those nutrition supplements were less about providing nutrition and more about deadening some of the nerve impulses that indicate you are hungry to your brain." Rafe said and I could hear the concealed rage in his voice. "Because you have been taking this for awhile now, some of your impulses have been affected by it. Which is why you always feel impulses of hunger that are of a much lower intensity and were able to stay without food when your nutrition privileges were revoked, while Wolf could not. This will fix that." He jerked his chin to my forearm.

There it was again. How different Wolf and Freesia were from me.

Then he continued, "Also, you are 'used' to feeling hungry because of the dulled impulses which tell your brain you have eaten enough even when you have not, while your actual hunger persists even after consumption as your healthy nerves are not able to convey the message strongly enough to your brain without the help of the other nerves that were affected. So basically, your brain has been receiving mixed signals from your body. One half of the signals say your sated and the other, that you are not. Which is why you feel continuously hungry but not hungry enough to eat."

Welcome to biology class, 101.

"So what does the...patch do?" I asked.

"It increases the availability of neurotransmitters at important sites in your brain. They had originally been reduced because of your low grade supplements." He said.

I raised my eyebrows at that and he smirked, "It fixes your problem," he said simply.

"What about the others?" I murmured, looking at him.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Everybody else who'd taken the supplements probably has the same problem as me." I said.

Rafe let out a sigh, looked at the human doctor and said, "Call the other Humans in. Check to see if they have any stomach ulcers that are..."

I tuned out after that, looking at Ryx, who was still sitting flat on my lap seeming to have no idea of moving.

I was asked to stay for a day at the Health Care Centre but Rafe glared the doctor into submission until he agreed to let me go. I'm proud of myself at having refrained from snickering.

Ryx barked and jumped off my lap heading towards the exit and Rafe took my arm, muttering something in their language to the nurse before dragging me away.

The second we stepped out, we were surrounded by his friends and my friends. They rushed to us, speaking their own languages, bombarding us with questions. I got bone crushing hugs from Wolf, Freesia and Kylee at the same time and I was forced to let go of Rafe's hand.

"What in the hell happened?!" Wolf burst out.

"I cannot believe—" Freesia started but stopped when Kylee spoke.

"I'm so glad both of you are okay."

"Me too!" Wolf and Freesia said together. Then they pulled me in for a hug again and this time they didn't let go for awhile. I rubbed their backs and looked at Kylee over their shoulders.

Are you okay? I mouthed at her and she nodded, giving me a wobbly smile.

When Wolf and Freesia finally let go of me, I told them what little I knew. Which wasn't much.

"The question is, are you the target or is he?" Wolf murmured.

Freesia had disturbed look on her face and I rubbed her shoulder.

"Hey," I said, pulling her in for another hug. Kylee joined me this time and when she hugged me she whispered in my ear, "I need to talk to you."

I gave her a barely there nod when both Freesia and Kylee pulled back.

I felt a hand on the small of my back and I relaxed into the hold.

I looked behind me and met Rafe's eyes. His expression was soft as he took me in before he lifted his gaze to meet Wolf's. His expression went hard then. The shift was so transparent to me, but I don't know how it looked to others. Maybe I've been so vigilant of him that I could make out even the most minute nuances of expression on his face.

"That's the second time she has been in mortal danger while she's in your presence, man." Wolf said.

I'm pretty sure every single individual collectively sucked in a breath.

"And both times I have seen to it she has come out alive." Rafe replied, but his tone was low, skating dangerous.

"Get your stuff together man, before you regret it." Wolf said.

Rafe started to move forward the same time I caught his arm. Freesia caught Wolf's arm and threw me a I'm getting him out of here look. I nodded quickly at her before spinning to face Rafe, placing both my hands on his biceps.

Rafe's eyes were trained to Wolf's, who wasn't dropping his gaze either. The challenge was evident and I could feel Rafe starting to raise to meet it. When I heard Ryx's growl I looked down, my eyes widening. His hackled were raised and he had the most fierce expression I'd ever seen. And it was directed at Wolf.

"Get him out of here!" I told Freesia, who hurried to usher a resistant Wolf into the elevator and out of our sight.

Rafe was still glaring at the closed elevator doors even after he'd gone and Ryx was still growling.

"Ryx, it's okay." I murmured to Ryx before looking up at Rafe and murmuring to him as well.

"It's fine Rafe, he was jus—"

Rafe's eyes whipped back to scrutinise me.

"Do not justify his words." Rafe said, his voice very low.

Ryx went quiet beside us. Watchful.

"I'm not justifying anything, Rafe. I'm only saying that he said that because—"

Rafe shrugged out of my grip, stalking to the elevators, Ryx at his heels.

I caught his arm, halting him halfway, making him turn towards me. He glared into my eyes.

Just as I was about to say something, Ace showed up behind me. He started murmuring something to him in their language and it had Rafe rapt in attention.

I stared between the two of them, unsure if I should bear witness to their conversation—even though I didn't understand anything—when Rafe's eyes flicked to mine. Maybe my shifting gave away my unease.

"Were you able to find any leads?" Rafe said in English.

Ace paused, seeming to take the hint. He continued in English as well. I smiled to myself at the gesture that helped me feel more at ease and at the same time asserted Rafe's confidence in me.

"No, we do not. You room is in complete indiscernible pieces. Rummaging through the rubble is going to take some time."

"I do not care how hard it is, I want answers by this evening." Rafe said.

My eyes flashed up to Rafe, but I stayed silent, unsure just how much I could contribute to this and not undermine Rafe's authority at the same time. But Rafe caught the look, holding one finger up to Ace and looking at me.

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

"That we should help in the search." I said.

Rafe raised his eyebrows. He looked thoughtful for a second.

"And why would we do that?" He asked, finally.

"Because one, it was our lives that was targeted and I want a hand in catching the son of a gun. Two, I don't want anyone stealing evidence from the site and three," I met Rafe's eyes squarely while saying this, "I don't want to be the kind of person who is just going to sit around and let other people do the dirty work. And I don't think you are that person either."

Ace laughed out loud and Rafe smirked.

"He is part of the search squad, Amour." Ace said, "And so am I."

I met Rafe's eyes, "I want in."

Rafe considered me for a few seconds and I challenged him with my gaze to say no. After throwing me an amused smirk he said, "You might want to change first."

"I like it." Ace said in response and both Rafe and I turned to stare at him.

I was staring in shock while Rafe stared impassively.

"You do remember I won the last time we duelled?" Rafe asked slowly and his tone seemed...mocking.

Ace's eyes flashed.

"I did not fight back," he said in response.

"That is why I will always win," Rafe said taking my arm and leading me into the elevator, Ryx following close to our heels, "If I were you, I would have fought back regardless."

When we turned around I could see Ace was pissed.

"Tomorrow. Same spot." He said, his eyes glaring dark holes into Rafe.

Rafe shrugged and the elevators shut us off from Ace.

I stared at Rafe.

"Did you just agree to fight your best friend?" I asked.

"Clearly we have different definitions of the functions of a best friend," Rafe said getting off the elevator while I stared at his back with a hanging jaw.

"'Functions'?" I said, incredulous. When Ryx nudged at me to get out of the elevator, I moved to follow Rafe.

"Does every relationship offer some kind of benefit for you?" I asked spluttering, "Is no relationship just—"

Rafe snorted, intercepting me, as he had his bracelet scanned and entered his room. The other one. Room Gigantor.

"Everyone develops and maintains relationships because it offers them something." Rafe said.

"Personal satisfaction, yes. But not like a—"

"Are you coming in or staying out?" He asked.

I blinked, realising I hadn't stepped into the room. I followed and so did Ryx.

"If we are done talking about my personal relationships, would you like to change?" He asked me.

I mimed throwing something at his head and he caught my arm easily, laughing. We looked at each other for sometime when realisation kicked in.

We were almost killed, or at least could have been mortally wounded, last night.

We, both of us at the same time, locked our arms around one another.

"I challenged him because he made a comment about you." Rafe confessed, his breath tickling my ear.

"He was just teasing." I whispered.

"There are just some lines one does not cross." Rafe said.

"He wa—"

"If I had made a comment like that about the person he was courting, we would have had a duel right there. I told you, Hills. We are very..."

"Aggressive?" I filled in, drily.

"I was going to say passionate." Rafe said.

I snickered, turning my nose into his neck, relishing the chocolate and almonds smell of his that reminded me of childhood and happiness.

"I'm glad you're okay." I murmured to him.

I felt Rafe's smile on my neck and knew he felt the same.

A bark later I felt a paw on my hip.

Rafe and I looked to our sides where Ryx had lifted himself onto two limbs, the other two resting on us—one paw on Rafe's thigh and other on my hip (courtesy our height difference).

"We're glad you're okay too," I murmured throwing an arm around him as well and including him in the hug.

"He was never this needy before." Rafe commented softly against my temple, "Must have inherited his emotional sensitivity from his mother."

I scoffed, "Says the man who just beat his chest and challenged his best friend to a duel like a moron."

"You just called me a primate from Earth and a stupid person in the same sentence. You are quite impressive when provoked." He said.

I leaned back, letting Ryx drop back to his fours and tilted my head at Rafe.

"You haven't seen anything, trust me." I said, starting to turn away.

But something I said must've caught his attention, because he caught my wrist and spun me around to face him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, curiosity flickering on his features.

I smirked at him, "Give me something to change into first and I'll show you." I said.

He was quick to move then. I laughed at him and ate a mouth full of suit for it when he threw one at me. I hit him back with it and it came flying right back. As I passed him to go to the side of the wall he'd indicated, I rolled my eyes at him throwing him a haughty look. He made a move as if to catch me and I sped away, laughing under my breath.

Quickly opening the door with my bracelet, I entered the bathroom. The humongous bathroom and quickly stripped, tossing Freesia's dress into the laundry compartment and pulling on Rafe's suit. It quickly modified itself to suit my size and I revelled in being able to move freely.

Then I stepped out and stalked right to the boxer's ring and hopped onto it. I turned around to see Rafe press something along the sides of the ring and I immediately felt the platform I was standing on become softer and bouncy. I ran my hands through my hair to pull it back into a bun, but Rafe shook his head as he joined me on the ring coming to stand opposite me, "Keep it down." He said.

I rolled my eyes and let my hair back down, shaking my head and loosening my stance. Rafe came a little closer, seeming amused by me.

I smiled at him.

Keep underestimating me, let's see where it gets you.

"Throw a punch." I said, already knowing what he was going to do.

Rafe raised his eyebrows.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"If you're too chicken, then.." I shrugged.

Rafe threw me a look that told me he knew what I was doing. He then threw a half hearted punch at me. I ducked easily, twisting so that I was behind him. Just as he turned to face me, I sucker punched him.

Pain shot up my knuckles, but I ignored it, smirking that the impact of my punch had caused his face to snap to the side. He looked back at me, wiping blood away from his mouth with the back of his hand. He dropped his hand then and smirked at me.

"You fight dirty." He noted.

"No better way to fight." I told him, shrugging.

He came at me then, knocking me off my feet. I locked my feet around his, bringing him right down with me. His hesitations were my benefits.

We rolled, trying to gain the upper hand over the other, when I reared my head back to slam it against his, but he shifted his head out of the way, so I went right ahead and bit him on his neck. He jerked into me in shock and that distraction was enough for me to shove him off. But he was as quick to get up as I was.

This time when he threw a punch, I just about almost got hit by it.

"Are you seriously going to punch me?" I asked him, breathless and mock offended.

Distract distract.

"I will kiss it better later," he said before blocking my kick. This time when he tried to knock me off my feet, I was ready. I dodged the kick.

Then I made the mistake of trying to kick him in his special place.

He quickly caught my foot in his hands before it could meet its target and held on to it.

Shit.

He twisted my whole damn leg, causing my body to turn and I dropped face forward onto the floor.

I huffed out a breath and was about to get up when I felt the weight of his knee pressing against my back.

"You need to train." He said.

I snorted, struggling to get out from under him.

"And you need to start praying. Get off me!" I snapped, but he caught my hands too, holding them easily behind my back.

"Let me train you." He said.

"Does it means I get to kick your ass everyday?" I growled, struggling.

He flipped me around and I gasped. He had shifted to place his knees on either side of my hips and he leaned over to place his hands on either side of my head.

"So, yes, you will let me train you?" He asked.

"Will you get all those cameras out of my room?" I asked.

Rafe leaned back, got up, gave me a hand to help me to my feet then held up one finger to indicate I give him a minute.

I watched as he hooked on a Com onto his ear and went mute for a whole minute.

Then he pulled it off and smiled at me.

"Done." He said.

I narrowed my eyes at him but didn't see any deceit in his expression.

"Fine, but if I ever find you spying on me again, you will regret the day you met me." I said.

Rafe snorted, "I would never regret that day." He said, hopping off the ring and pulling something out of a compartment in the wall.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He just laughed, walking up to me and placing what looked like a head band on my head. The band opened up into a transparent mask that covered my whole face to my chin, like the one he'd worn the very first time I'd seen him.

He didn't wear a band though, his was designed like a thin frame that sat on his eyes and spread open both upwards and downwards to cover his face forehead to chin.

"Nice." I said, smiling, "This is to keep from breathing in the rubble, I guess?"

He nodded, then stepped to me and pressed his thumb to the side of my suit near my hip. I watched in awe as the silver suit turned black and hard. It looked like what they'd worn when they'd come to get us that fateful day.

"Whoa...what's this?" I asked.

"Battle Mode. It is also capable of shifting into battery mode automatically by monitoring your heart rate, blood pressure and adrenaline levels." He said.

"Do all suits have this?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"It is made up of the hardest mineral on this planet. It is rare, expensive and exhaustive to create."

Ah, so diamond wasn't the hardest mineral on this planet.

I watched as he turned his suit black as well.

"Black suits you," I murmured.

"I will keep that in mind." He said, leading me towards the exit after asking Ryx—who'd followed us—to stay.

-- --

Nothing. We could find nothing. The splinters were so minute that we could barely make out one material from the other. It was all practically dust. And searching for bomb casings—if any—was like searching for a needle in a needle stack.

It was at the end of the exhausting—and disappointing—day after I came back to my room and fell back on my bed that I thought of Kylee.

And when I thought of Kylee that I belatedly realised something. Very very belatedly. I slapped a hand to my forehead.

Rafe told me that C'Riel do not experience sexual arousal of any kind unless they have surrendered to the partner. So how was Kylee pregnant with a C'Riel's child?

Unless a C'Riel had surrendered to her?

Exhilarated at the idea, I hopped off my bed, quickly sending Kylee a message asking her where she stayed. When she didn't reply after five minutes I messaged Rafe asking him for directions to Kylee's room.

He replied immediately and I stalked off in the direction he'd described.

I ran my bracelet over the the Identity Screen of her door, waiting for permission to enter. When it didn't open, I figured she was asleep. I sighed and turned away when I heard a sound.

It sounded like a sharp cry and a thud. My heart almost stopped in place.

I swallowed, running my bracelet over the Identity Screen again. No response.

I messaged Rafe again, fear skidding up my spine.

Have this door opened, Rafe. I heard some noise inside.

Not even five seconds later the door opened and I sped inside.

"Kylee! Are you—"

I halted staring.

Kylee quickly got to her feet from where she'd been lying near the desk. She quickly ran her hands across her face, wiping away the tears streaming down her cheeks. But nothing could hide the red mark on her cheek.

The very distinguishable mark of five fingers.

I turned my glare against the blonde C'Riel who stood over her.

"You asshole." I said, stalking towards Kylee and pulling her behind me.

"This is none of your business. Get out." He said.

"She is pregnant. What is wrong with you?!"

"She is pregnant with my child. And this is between us. Get. Out."

I ignored him, pulling Kylee behind me and taking her to the exit. But he caught her other hand.

I whipped around, not letting go of her hand, "Let her go." I glared.

"You should leave, Amour," Kylee said softly and I stared at her in utter and absolute shock.

"Kylee, he—"

"Amour, please." She said, throwing me a pleading look.

"Get out, human." The asshole spat.

My face burned. But there wasn't anything I can do when Kylee all but lead me out her door and shut it in my face.

I stared at the door, shocked.

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Da Da Daaaaaaaa *yawns* Vote and comment. Sorry if you find any typos.

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